I'm not so sure about your point 2), but to everything else, yes -- these mirror my thoughts on the game, in particular (and order of preference):

...better flowing animations for melee classes? Forgive me, but melee combat looks like a rave, not a fight. There's no flinching, token dodging and blocking, and very lackluster animation blending. Force Lighting looks preposterous with a double-bladed saber in one hand. The abilities just do not flow, and you're left with a fight that looks like a child with a toy sword.

I'm rather curious as to what you mean in point 5. Are you suggesting as you level up you level abilities rather than the current talent-tree system? Because I... actually quite like that idea.

Assassins/Shadows already have Force Speed as their gap-closer, which I'd argue is better as it does not require a target and can be used for getting around faster, something I kind of wish Force Charge could do.

I agree. I'd go so far as to say as melee should as well. Corner-cover would also be nice. In order to maintain balance, it is only fair that Agents/Smugglers are the only ones to get the buffs/alternate hotbars.

I've got 3 Level 55 tanks (Assassin, Juggernaut, Vanguard). Outside of group content and the odd heroic you may need to solo they're not much use. When playing alone, they're just... boring. It takes forever to kill anything, which I'd be fine with if the combat mechanics of the game didn't mean I'd be sitting around pressing the same 4 or 5 keys in the same order every time I wanted to kill anything.

Hi guys I was wondering what you thought of the combat mechaics in the game. Do you find it fun to kill mobs, or are they just obstacles between you and your objective? Do you ever go out and fight things just for the hell of it, or do you require extra incentive (i.e. rewards)? Are there any ways you can see to improve the flow of fights? Just give your answer on a 0-10 scale and elaborate if you feel the need to.

Easy: 1) Simplified and more fluid combat mechanics, less of this sluggish and illusion-shattering pseudo-turn based malarkey. 2) Phased mission progression (e.g. WoW post WotLK). 3) Expanded planets missions, enemies and loot for players of all levels. 4) Much more interactive scenery. 5) Free-roam space within star systems.

I agree. Each piece should also affect performance of the speeder. This is something they should have allowed for in the original design for personal starships as well.

I believe balance with this whole combat system is going the wrong way. Rather than removing something from a class which is causing grief for others, the others should instead have their own circumstantial advantages, else one winds up tightening the rules more and more, constantly scanning metrics until everyone just winds up with the same abilities. It happened in WoW, it'll happen here. GSF conversely, has done it right. Each ship has their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. No one's complaining that the gunship's range outstrips that of a scout, nor that a scout can outmaneuver a gunship. It's fine, they're different things and they should be treated as such. Capitalise on each classes strength. Don't standardise, diversify, lest we defeat the very purpose of having classes.

I do like the idea of a modifiable speeder, and I do agree speeders should actually be fast. I suspect that (asides from the not insignificant work involved in bringing in this new mechanic) that the possible impact on the Cartel Market will be the driving force on whether we ever get anything like this.

That's... actually a really good idea. This could also help train for fights without subjecting your members to lockouts.

Eh, I've always preferred combo-based combat to this rotation system. I don't see the appeal of using the same abilities in the same order. I'd actually prefer abilities to be rolled together and activated through mouse/key combinations.

Melee combat as a whole is dull, it's a game of 'waggle your saber at the opponent until they drop dead'. If at least the animations flowed together such that the fight at least *looked* like both parties were engaged in an actual fight, that would be a *significant* improvement. Allowing the personalisation of lightsaber forms in terms of animations (as mentioned) would interfere with the form abilities used by JK/SW. If you ask me, lightsaber abilities should be based less on class abilities and more over the player's choice of lightsaber form, but then that detracts from the whole class system.

Problem is, there's no incentive to go back to old worlds. If there's an event on, it's typically a case of 'turn up-> do event stuff-> return to Fleet'. It's the inherent problem with the themepark model. Bringing various level ranges to different zones on planets can encourage higher population caps. Add max level zones with something to keep high level players hanging around (I don't mean dailys or rep factions) and you're on to a winner.

Pretty much. Reasonably some bits of the engine could slowly be replaced with in-house stuff over time, but it's not exactly the kind of thing one could simply swap out without reinventing much of the game.

Most of my friends will be playing ESO as they find the combat of SWTOR slow and boring (I can't blame them, combat is pretty dull), I'll be sticking around for the excellent stories and voice acting, however. Also, y'know, Star Wars.

I also agree. I too prefer a more cinematic look, but understand the inclusion of the garish visuals. A toggle would be great.

I rarely participate in General chat aboard the Fleet on TRE, as you say, it's usually just rubbish. Rep side is a bit better, but as Empire's my main, it's a safe bet just to turn chat off until one needs it.

I prefer the new Dark Ward visuals to the prior one, but all said and done, I don't like slabs floating around me, it's useful to see when Dark Ward is up, but looks kinda silly. I'd prefer something a little more... imposing and a little less ridiculous.

I too play almost exclusively tanks and healers with two end-game of each, and I too love the idea of Tactical Flashpoints. I hate being role-locked. I play a tank as my main. Having to maintain a second set of gear is a pain, doing dailies is a pain. I know every fight back-to-front and inside out. Every Flashpoint, every operation, becomes a case of rise-repeat the same old patterns. There's no variation -- with a Tactical Flashpoint things might at least be a little more chaotic, let me improvise and react rather than moving from A->B->C. The most fun I have on my tank is solo, fighting enemies intended for groups and finding ways to kill them on my own because dammit, at least then I'm having to keep my wits about me and not follow routine movements and ability rotations. The same applies to my healers.

I get what you're saying about the ease of these things -- easily defeatable mobs is a byproduct of removing the need for the trinity. This being said, it's not necessarily unavoidable. Difficulty can be increased by adding more enemies -- more enemies = more incoming damage which needs to be avoided. Suddenly you have to think about how you're going to engage a group of enemies, take out the weaker ones first or the ones with powerful or awkward abilities, perhaps. Use group mates to occupy some of the stonger ones whilst a couple of you take out the weaker ones. Having a class which can throw out heals is still going to be an asset, but not a necessity and that healer can then engage in some of the fighting as well. I've not seen this in any of the Tactical stuff so far, but I'll admit I've not played in the PTS for the new stuff. If done properly in the future I believe Tactical Flashpoints can still provide a challenge, albeit one based on strategy and skill rather than gear and prior knowledge.

What do you guys think? A role-less Flashpoint which scales to level and group size is something I was hoping for when the game was released -- I'm really rather chuffed they're bringing this feature in. As an aside, what does this 'role-less' functionality say about the future of the game? Indeed, does it say anything? Are we looking at a future where the trinity is slowly phased out in lieu of faster queues and and freedom of specialisation? Would you guys be cool with that? Thoughts, predictions. Let's get this ball rollin'.

I really rather enjoyed it. My only qualms are that there's only two maps and one game type. Unlike other people, I've not found problems with mouse sensitivity (perhaps because I play a scout and they're rather nimble?), I found the controls really rather easy to get to grips with, I don't see where the problem. Furthermore both factions seem to be on a pretty level playingfield, the scores are usually close between factions. Improvements? Sure -- Cockpit view -- Joystick control -- Sensitivity options and keybindings -- BF style ground-space transition (probably an unrealistic expectation given engine limitations) All in all, I think the ground combat could learn a thing or two from GS -- controlling your own aim and evading attacks manually is a helluva lot more interesting than relying entrely on an invisible die system.

Pretty much this. I play a Darkness Assassin as my main character, an Immortal Juggernaut as my primary alt as well as a Shield Specialist Vanguard. All are 55 and well geared. I also have two Rakatan-geard healers and a DPS from before RotHC. Tank is a relatively challenging role and requires constant vigilence and a degree of knowledge above what other roles need, although I don't think this is the offputting factor. What's offputting about tanks is their pitiful damage and limited room for maneuverability. I'm not a fan of the combat system in this game -- I resent not being allowed to move freely in a fight without compromising my effectivity but tanks get it worst when outisde of group content because their poor dps prolongs fights. This in turn makes the quality of life of a tank plummet as a task which would take a DPS role 15 minutes may take the tank 40, but to be fair healers also suffer from this. Then there's the issue that tanking requires an entirely different set of gear. While a healer may get away with DPS armour, a tank cannot. There are three options -- level tank spec and spend longer levelling as a result, level dps and then build up a different set of gear at max level (bearing in mind that this will mean you either spend twice the time collecting gear or spend a long time in sub-par gear), or the less-viable third option of collecting tanking gear as you level (which consumes a large portion of inventory space as well as requiring you spend time finding and updating the set as you level). If you want to dual-spec, DPS and tank you'll still have to lug around two sets of armour and spend the money maintaining and upgrading both. I can see why people don't play tanks. They either find it boring because their solo play is spent chipping away at health bars until the enemy falls over and their group play is following a strict set of tactics and hoping to dear god their party knows what they're doing and doesn't get everyone killed, even taking the brunt of the blame for other people's mistakes. TL;DR: Why bother aiming for a specialisation which outputs poor damage, demands prior knowledge of encounters and requires the collection and maintenance of a set of armour which is only viable for this spec. All this when the reward is the responsibility to babysit and instruct people who may or may not know what they're doing?